New CNN Help Wanted Ad – “Script Readers Wanted”

     For some time now many of us have noticed how many news anchors have turned into script readers. TV News, in particular, were mostly telling us stories source from other outlets. Moring after moring you hear it. “In a Washington Post report”…. or ” The New York Times today said”… Now granted even the 24/7 News channels are no longer just news. Much of the Morning is spent as part of the promotions machine for the next movie, book, music release, TV Show, to have the stars come and pitch their projects. Then the evening is filled with opinion shows, and the daytime is trying to track down and be first to cover some “Breaking News”

This rush to be first instead of being right has CNN and others facing some serious legal challenges. This coupled with CNN’s resident Jeff Zucker stating that their people are not investigators, reminded me of a phone room I working in years ago.

One of the owners there didn’t like to place help wanted ads looking for telemarketers. So he placed ads looking for “script readers”. Now in his case, there was even more logic to this. All he wanted his new people to do was read the pitch, and once someone asked a question, tell the possible client “Great question. I’m new here, let me get someone who knows the answer.” What they called a Take-Over pitch in the business.

This latest run of false or inaccurate news reports and Jeff Zucker’s excuse for the errors, got me thinking about that and how maybe CNN should consider it?

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